Historic, freehold house in Strand on market

A rare, 100-year old historic gem, one of the oldest and last freehold houses on Beach Road in the Strand, has come onto the market. Priced at R4.236 million, the property comes with a wonderful history and is one of the earliest built that dates to before the residential settlement of what is today the Strand, says Seeff agent, Chris O’Grady.

It was built around 1910, just after the South African War (Anglo-Boer War), as one of the family homes of the well-known Gerber family, headed by Albertus Gerber.

Mr Gerber hailed from Stellenbosch and married the daughter of JN Hofmeyr, one of the founders of the Stellenbosch Gymnasium, that later became the University of Stellenbosch.

He became the Free State superintendent at the time of the war (1879 to 1915), but used to enjoy the summer holidays with his family at the Strand beach front; then still a Malay fishing village known as Mostert’s Bay.

After the war, he returned to the Cape, where he served as Professor of Mathematics at the Stellenbosch University. At the time of his return, he was briefly interned, as he was believed to have been a ‘boer-collaborator’.

It was around this time, in the early 1900s, that he built a number of little holiday cottages for family members on what is today Beach Road, but back then was still just beach sand with no infrastructure.

Some of the semi-detached cottages are still owned by descendants of the Gerber family.

The house was built a little later, situated literally across the road from the beach, also as one of the family houses, says Mr O’Grady. It also enjoys views of the surrounding Helderberg Mountains.

The architectural style is essentially Victorian and the home is in excellent condition, says Mr O’Grady.

The plot size is 275sqm and the home offers a floor space of around 164sqm. A little green picket fence in the front adds to the charm, and the home is surrounded by a lovely country-styled garden.

It comes with a lounge and dining room as well as a spacious kitchen; all with terracotta floors. There is also an enclosed patio that serves as a sunroom, along with a separate laundry room.

There are four bedrooms and two bathrooms; the main is en-suite. One of the bedrooms serves as a study with built-in library shelving.There is also a single garage and plans to extend this into a double tandem garage, says Mr O’Grady.

Written by Seef Properties
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